Heather Allen's Blog
About
- Bio:
It’s really study abroad that brought me to NRDC. On a field course in the cloud forests of Monteverde Costa Rica, a professor described a once abundant animal we had yet to see on our long hikes. The Golden Toad hadn’t been seen in years and was at serious risk of becoming extinct as a result of pollution and climate impacts on the toad’s watery environment. And then we kept hiking, and I kept wondering, “Well, what are we going to do?”
The question has stuck with me, and in the meantime, I studied both biology and international relations, hoping to understand and shape international environmental policy. After school I began to work for the U.S. Government at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on issues related to scientific cooperation with other countries, exchange of environmental data and global systems to monitor the health of the earth’s ecosystems.
Now at NRDC I am keen to take my original question even further and work on critical environmental and health issues for the global community: access to safe drinking water, adaptation to the impacts of climate change. The issue of safe water and sanitation is already a challenge in many parts of the world which will only be exacerbated by climate volatility. Looking ahead water, climate and sustainable development will be a key focus at the proposed Earth Summit in 2012 and I am eager to be working on behalf of NRDC to raise awareness and real action on each issue.
- Roots in:
- Wisconsin
- Favorite place:
- The neighborhood dog park, especially when the dogs are being hilarious.
- Why "environmentalism" matters:
- Environmentalism matters because the living environment, as most folks reading this blog know, sustains us - well beyond providing the food we eat, water we drink and air we breathe. While those basics are essential and worth fighting for, it is the other qualities, the peace, comfort, and happiness that natural places and wildlife inspire, which make actions to protect the environment both a common responsibility and a shared delight.
Recent Blog Posts
- Today is World Toilet Day! (November 19, 2009)
- Water and Ecosystems a Focus at Barcelona Climate Change Talks (November 16, 2009)
- Retired military general and young creative protestors agree: The US must help the world’s poor adapt to climate change (October 16, 2009)
- Adapting to Global Warming: $100 Billion Says World Bank (Give or Take a Little Social Change) (October 2, 2009)
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